Latest Massachusetts Headlines
All the headlines from our Massachusetts Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Horace Mann Exit of Mass. Market in 2001 Upheld
Mar 7 2005 // Horace Mann Educators Corp. did not violate any law or regulation in 2001 when, as part of its plan to exit the state’s auto insurance market, it transferred its best exclusive representative producers and their auto...
Auto Task Force, Industry PR Effort Herald Busy Summer Ahead in Mass.
Mar 7 2005 // A task force appointed by Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney last spring has concluded that the state’s private passenger auto insurance system is heading for a crash and has promised to produce a legislative reform...
Plymouth Rock Names Reardon in Conn., Scafidi in Northern Mass. to Marketing Posts
Mar 3 2005 // Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation, a Boston-based auto insurer, has appointed Daniel J. Reardon as marketing supervisor for Connecticut. The compay has also appointed Michael J. Scafidi as senior marketing representative...
Mass. Workers’ Comp Writers Seek 1% Hike
Mar 1 2005 // The Workers Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau of Massachusetts (WCRIB) has recommended to the state Division of Insurance that average rates for workers’ compensation insurance be increased by 1.0 percent...
Mass. Insurer Coalition Plans Major Campaign to Bring More Competition to Auto System
Feb 18 2005 // A group of insurers in Massachusetts is planning a statewide public relations, lobbying and educational campaign to convince drivers, voters and lawmakers that more competition is needed in the state’s private...
Mass. Fraud Crackdown Lowers Claims Substantially
Feb 16 2005 // Auto accident claims are down significantly in Lawrence, Mass. and several other Merrimack Valley communities after a 16-month crackdown on auto insurance fraud, according to an industry report. The Insurance Fraud Bureau...
R.I.’s Starkweather & Shepley Buys 2 Mass. Agencies
Feb 14 2005 // Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage, Inc., one of the largest independent insurance agencies in the U.S., has acquired MVI Insurance Group and The Lambert Agency located in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. Rhode...
Opponents Win Stay of Mass. Auto Market Changes
Feb 2 2005 // Opponents of changes to the way the Massachusetts auto insurance system handles high risk drivers have won a court stay of rules that were to begin going into effect this week. In granting the injunction, Superior Court...
Southeastern Mass. Payroll Scam Busted
Jan 27 2005 // Five individuals have been charged in federal court with participating in a massive tax and insurance fraud scheme in connection with their operation of temporary employment agencies in Southeastern Massachusetts. They are...
Court Knocks Out Mass. Limits on Banks’ Sales of Insurance
Jan 24 2005 // Banks should have an easier time selling insurance in Massachusetts thanks to a recent federal court ruling granting supremacy to federal rules over more restrictive state laws governing banks’ sales of insurance...
COMMERCE SUES OVER AUTO PLAN:
Jan 24 2005 // The Commerce Insurance Company has filed an action in Massachusetts Superior Court, Suffolk County, in response to the rules published by the Division of Insurance for a new automobile residual market system. Commerce is...
Conn. Approves ConnectiCare Takeover by HIP-NY
Jan 21 2005 // Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Susan Cogswell has approved the acquisition of ConnectiCare by Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York. The merger price is $350 million. Regulators in Massachusetts and New York must...
Feds Sue to Block Mass. Oil Spill Liability Law
Jan 21 2005 // The federal government has filed a lawsuit challenging key sections of a new Massachusetts law that regulates oil tanker operations and safety in state waters, saying the provisions violate federal authority and should be...
Only 2 Mass. Insurers Offering Good Driver Discounts
Jan 19 2005 // The number of insurers in Massachusetts looking to grant discounts to the best drivers has gone down to 2 from just 3. Of the state’s 20 private passenger auto insurers only Amica Insurance and Electric Insurance,...
Tower Group Expanding to States Throughout East Coast, Including N.J., Conn., Mass. and Md.
Jan 18 2005 // Tower Group, Inc. announced that it entered into a stock purchase agreement today to acquire North American Lumber Insurance Company, a shell company with 17 state licenses, nine of which are active in the following...
Safety Insurance Estimates Positive Impact of Mass. Residual Market Plan Changes on Its Operations
Jan 17 2005 // Safety Insurance Group, Inc. in Boston has updated its estimate of the financial impact of the reform approved on Dec. 31, 2004 of the residual market system for personal automobile insurance in Massachusetts. The company...
Massachusetts Bankers Assoc. Reports Favorable Federal Court Decision on Bank Insurance Sales
Jan 13 2005 // The Massachusetts Bankers Association (MBA) on Thursday announced that the U.S. District Court has issued a favorable opinion in its declaratory judgment action, resolving a critical case for banks that want to engage in...
Mass. AG Probes Municipal Health Insurance Buying
Jan 11 2005 // The Massachusetts attorney general is expanding his probe into the commissions that insurers pay insurance brokers who promote their products to include contracts with cities and towns. The investigation by Attorney...
Mass. Prison Officer Indicted for Comp Fraud
Jan 5 2005 // A former Bristol County (Mass.) Corrections Officer has been indicted for working while collecting workers’ compensation benefits, according to Attorney General Tom Reilly. Kevin J. Mello, of South Dartmouth was...
Despite Residual Market Changes in Mass., Commerce Insurance to Offer 5% AAA Group Discount
Jan 5 2005 // Despite new rules restricting its ability to reinsure individual high risk members of groups in the residual market, Commerce Insurance Company plans to again file with the Massachusetts Division of Insurance a five...
